What's this? News from an airport that doesn't make you want to vomit blood in outrage? Finally. A man stuck in airport security gridlock could say goodbye to his dead grandson when his flight's pilot refused to depart without him.

The man, whose grandson had been murdered only days earlier, arrived two hours early for his domestic flight. Thanks to the complete indifference of the security staff he encountered, he was given no assistance as he struggled to make it through security in time for takeoff. Finally, having arrived at his gate in his bare feet, 12 minutes late, he was greeted with the following: "Are you Mark? We held the plane for you and we're so sorry about the loss of your grandson."

The pilot, informed of the family's loss, had delayed the flight by 12 minutes to allow the man to board. When the man's family thanked the pilot, he, in a line that I'm sure will be delivered in the film version by Jon Hamm, replied only: "They can't go anywhere without me and I wasn't going anywhere without you. Now relax. We'll get you there. And again, I'm so sorry."

It's not often you get to call an airline classy—or really anything other than completely awful, but way to be the exception Southwest. [Elliott via Consumerist]